Research Institutions

Due to the abundance of geological, palaeontological and archaeological evidence, scientific research in the Fumane Cave requires complex studies, which can only be carried out through collaboration between the researchers and specialists from diverse institutions. Therefore, one of the first steps taken by the University of Ferrara and the University of Milan was to create a research team able to reconstruct the relations between man, the environment and its resources.

The team’s competences range from sedimentology, which studies the formation processes of deposits, to anthracology – analysis of charred plant remains – to paleontology – determination of the vertebrate skeletal remains and their processes of fossilization, and further on to determine the more direct evidence of human presence, represented by a wide range of artifacts, from stone and bone tools to ornamental objects and other forms of artistic expression.

As for the dating of the deposits, the collaborations are with the Facilities of Oxford, Milan, Paris and, previously, Utrecht and Lecce. Both the field research and at laboratories are promoted and supported by the University of Ferrara and Milano, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and by a group of institutional bodies such as the Lessinia Mountain Community and the Municipality of Fumane, the Cariverona Foundation and various private supporters (Roberto Gardina Impresa di Costruzioni e Restauro, Albino Armani viticoltori dal 1607, Banca di Credito Cooperativo della Valpolicella).